Melanesians

Melanesians are the inhabitants of Melanesia, including New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and West Papua), Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia. There are 212,800 inhabitans of the Melanesian islands, with 159,000 of them living on the island of New Guinea alone. They are predominantly Christian, as they have had a long colonial history under the rule of the German Empire, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Australia, while some practice folk religions or even Islam (with the Muslims living in West Papua, under the control of Indonesia). They are the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians, Polynesians, and Micronesians, and they are related to Moluccans and Papuans. The Melanesian people are known for being the only non-white people to have natural blond hair, although the gene is different than that of European blondes.